The weather was gloomy in Milan Saturday morning. It was overcast and cold, but that didn’t stop members of the Jackson Chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club from fulfilling their mission of placing wreaths near the graves of fallen veterans buried in the Cloverdale Cemetery, at 5067 Front St. in Milan.

“This is part of the national Wreaths Across America Day,” said Richard Webb, club vice-president.

The annual event began 23 years ago where on the second Saturday in December, wreaths would be placed on or near graves in Arlington Cemetery, Webb said. This year, the event’s goal was to lay wreaths at all 250,000 graves in Washington D.C., he said.

“I thought we should do something locally and this is our second year doing it,” Webb said.

The group of four placed 10 wreaths near grave sites at the cemetery, including the graves of fallen friends of Webb and on his father’s grave.

It was difficult for Webb to describe the feeling he gets when placing the wreaths near the headstones of his friends and father.

“It brings back a rush of memories,” he said, explaining that many of the men he was honoring he met during his childhood. “…Some of the families didn’t know that their family members were Buffalo Soldiers and what significance that had. It’s just a feeling that you try to get it right. As long as there’s one veteran left alive then no veterans will be forgotten.”

Webb said in 1866, congress passed a law allowing blacks to fight in the military.

“They started at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas and they actually took the settlers out West,” Webb said. “...they protected the gold, shipments, and the early settlements in West Texas. Buffalo soldiers provided security for the settlers. They couldn’t stay in the town, but they provided security for them. Because they were such fierce fighters, the Indians gave them the name of Buffalo Soldiers.”

Webb was drafted in 1966 and spent 28 years in the Air Force.

Lynette Love, business manager for the club, said the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club is a community minded organization working to alleviate the stereotype that motorcycle clubs have. She said most members, which include men and women, have either served in the military or are in law enforcement.